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r» THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, February 24, 2003 5 CONTACT US TTT7 MTY ARISI0I™EYfDIT Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I I I J I V I I / edly do. Excellence, then, is not an E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com - —■ B B—^ -JL. ▼ _B B_ m act, but a habit.” — —----=========== ceremony after her music wins in eight categories PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Rapper Eminem, above, won two Grammys, including best rap album. Avril Lavigne, above right, was shut out. BY NEKESA MUMBI MOODY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — The music of pop jazz chanteuse Norah Jones gar nered eight Grammy awards Sunday night, including album and record of the year, capping a year in which the sultry singer catapulted from obscuri ty to international acclaim. “I feel really blessed and really lucky,” Jones said after winning the album of the year at the end of the 45th annual awards show. Jones, who won in ev ery category in which she was nominated, tied Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys for most wins by a female artist in a single night. As unknown as triple-winner Bruce Springsteen was acclaimed before the past year, Jones won five in dividual Grammys. “I never, ever thought that the music I made would become popular music, so this is amazing," Jones said as she picked up an award for best pop vocal album. She also won for best female pop vo cal, best new artist, best album of the year, and record of the year for “Don’t Know Why,” written by Jesse Harris, who won the song of the year Grammy. Her album, “Come Away With-Me,” earned best engineered album and producer of the year hon ors for Arif Mardin. The 23-year-old New Yorker, who emerged last year after signing with the tiny Blue Note label, sold more than 6 million copies of her jfl debut worldwide. She appeared almost over whelmed in accepting one award from the. Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Harris, who thanked Jones for “being a I pal,” said backstage that he “thought for JH certain Bruce was going to win.” Springsteen was clearly a favorite of jH the crowd inside Madison Square Garden HHI as the Grammys returned to New York for the first time in five years. His Sept. 11-inspired “The Rising” was honored for male rock vocal, rock album and rock song, although the Boss lost out for album and song of the year. Performing only a few miles north of Ground Zero, Springsteen delivered a rousing performance of the title track midway through the show as the crowd screamed, “Bruuuuce!” Later, Springsteen joined Elvis Costello, Little Steven Van Zandt, Dave Grohl and Tony Kanal for a rousing tribute to Joe Strummer — a version of the Clash’s “London Calling.” The Dixie Chicks, after a bitter legal battle with their label Sony, took best country album among their three Grammys. The trio’s multiplatinum “Home,” a return to their country roots, was co-pro duced by member Natalie Maines’ father, Lloyd. “I want to check the record books and see how many fathers and daughters have won Grammys to gether,” she said, grabbing her father. Among the double winners were Eminem, Coldplay, India.Arie and Nelly. Eminem’s second Grammy came for best rap album, the third time he’s won in the category. Instead of offering an acceptance speech, Eminem rattled off a list of rappers who had inspired him, in cluding Run-DMC, LL Cool J and the Notorious B.I.G. “Thank you, because I learned from all of you,” he said. Eminem, Jones, Springsteen and Nelly were all nominated for a leading five Grammys apiece, along with perennial Grammy favorite Sheryl Crow, neosoul singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq, teen rock er Avril Lavigne and R&B newcomer Ashanti. Saadiq, Crow and Ashanti all won one. Lavigne was the only one shut out. Country singer Alan Jackson, who wrote “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” in the weeks after the terrorist attacks, won best country song for the mournful tune. India. Arie, who was nominated for seven Grammys last year but lost them all, finally got her first two, win ning for best urban-alternative performance for “Little Things” and best R&B album for “Voyage to India.” Among the other winners: the previously unher alded Funk Brothers. The groundbreaking house band for Motown Records, the focus of the recent docu mentary “Standing in the Shadows of Motown,” won ♦ GRAMMYS, SEE PAGE 7 BOOK REVIEW Tales of the mundane fuel lackluster novel “A BOX OF MATCHES” Nicholson Baker ★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY BRIAN RAY the (iamkcock Baker has written a significant novel about seeking out the in significant. His latest work, “A Box of Matches,” lacks plot, char acter and theme, and Baker en tertains readers with his internal monologues about the coffee mak er, the toaster and his fireplace. Emmett, a textbook editor in his mid-40s, spends every morn ing by the fire drinking coffee. When he’s out of matches, the novel ends. Despite uie apparent simplici ty, Baker’s prose wanders through time and space and delves into the core of his charac ter’s psyche without Emmett ever leaving his den. As the pages turn, we listen to Emmett recount mun dane yet well-written episodes about his wife, his father, his two children and his pet duck. In one brief chapter, Emmett tells us about how his pet duck somehow survives the New England winters. In another chap ter, Emmett tells a story in which his duck attacks his cat by peck ing it in the buttocks. The last, and probably most entertaining, of the episodes consists of his wife, Claire, showing him how she can turn the page of a bouk with her tongue. With a sense of comic humili ty, Emmett muses on the impor tance of simple items and rou tines such as making coffee and washing dishes. He actually tells us how to make coffee and wash dishes. Emmett spends two pages talking about the holes in his socks. In more than one chapter, Emmett claims that he can use nightmares as an alarm clock. He also believes that, by knocking his head five times on a pillow, he can make himself wake up at 5 o’clock. If he hits his head six times on a pillow, then he’ll wake up at 6. If he wants to wake up at 5:30, how ever, he must slightly tap his head on his pillow, and his body does the math. We learn near the novel’s end that Emmett once tried to write a mystery novel but couldn’t bring himself to subjugate language and character to plot. Some critics have lambasted books such as “White Noise,” by Don DeLillo, for their lack of plot. But at least their authors develop an overarching theme and char acters who act. it s naiu iu muve jjasi me irri tating and repetitious lines “Good morning, it’s 6 a.m. and I’m...” or “Good morning, it’s 4 a.m. and...” Emmett’s corny hellos add a self awareness to the novel; it seems like Baker is right there waving his supposedly profound nothing ness in our faces. After 30 “good mornings,” you might feel like you’re listening to a cheesy local radio program and not reading a book by a critically acclaimed au thor. While parts of “A Box of Matches” demonstrate finely crafted language, many sections lack economy of style. Besides, one component of a great novel is a great theme — magnificent lan guage must represent something magnificent. It’s hard to feel wooed by poetic lines about how ice crystallizes on the slug Emmett will soon feed to his hap py, well-adjusted duck. If the duck had cancer and the slug were a ♦ BOOK REVIEW, SEE PAGE 6 MOVIE REVIEW ‘Daredevil’ best of comic-inspired films “DAREDEVIL” Starring Ben Affleck ★★★★ out of'☆☆☆☆☆ BY BEN ANGSTADT THE GAMECOCK Everyone knows that, in the real world, comic-book super heroes don’t actually exist. But a recent explosion of comic-in spired movies has made it seem as though superheroes might not be too far out of the realm of pos sibility. “Blade,” “X-Men,” “Spider Man” and the upcoming “Incredible Hulk” film are all based on the works of Marvel Comics, one of the largest comic book companies, whose stories are known for them deep, com plex characters and relevant so cial messages. Unlike those of its rival, DC Comics, Marvel’s heroes are ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations, rather than inter galactic travelers or billionaire technology whizzes. Among these ordinary people is Matt Murdock, a lawyer whose childhood encounter with toxic waste left him blinded but amaz ingly enhanced his other senses. “Daredevil,” the latest of 20th Century Fox’s movies inspired by Marvel Comics, tells the sto ry of Murdock and his life as “the man without fear.” After his tragic accident and the murder of his father by the mob, Murdock vows to defend those who cannot defend them selves. He uses his intense phys ical strength and new super senses — including magnified hearing that gives him a virtual sonar system — to fight crime and protect the weak under the moniker Daredevil. Ben Affleck stars as Murdock/Daredevil. Affleck ef fectively finds his niche in his leading role, and he has a believ able chemistry with Jennifer Garner, who plays Elektra Nachios, Murdock’s love interest. “Daredevil” might be the best of the Marvel films yet. It achieves a balance between the high-flying action and passion ate romance of “Spider-Man” and the dark, serious moods of “X-Men” and “Blade.” The story of “Daredevil” hasa more realis tic feel than those of its comic book predecessors. Also, Murdock’s world is even more believable than that of his Marvel colleagues. He grew up in a bad neighborhood, has a struggling law practice, and is constantly worrying that his ac tions as Daredevil make him no better than the “bad guys” he tries to remove from the streets. These elements make Daredevil a hero the audience can actually understand. While Daredevil and Elektra are exciting and believable, how ever, the villains of “Daredevil” are who truly steal the show. Michael Clarke-Duncan plays Wilson Fisk, the man better known as The Kingpin, the uber crime lord of the entire Marvel Comics world. Even though Kingpin is white in the comics, Clarke-Duncan has the perfect build, look and character to por tray the high life of the ultimate .^comic-book gangster. The real treat is the neurotic Bullseye (Colin Farrell), a sadis tic marksman with an obsession for perfection. Bullseye makes being bad look real good. His high-energy battle with Daredevil atop a cathedral organ puts other fight scenes from con temporary superhero films to shame. “Daredevil” is a real testa ment to the strength of the recent comic-book-film craze and shows yet again how infectious Marvel Comics’ characters are to fans all over. “Daredevil” is a requisite film for all fans of action, drama, comics and spirited movies in #T/VW AVft 1 gCllUl (IX. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Ben Affleck plays the title character in “Daredevil," which combines the action and romance of “Spider-Man” with the serious mood of “Blade:” Affleck achieves believable chemistry with Jennifer Garner, who plays his character’s love interest.